I'm BACK!

It's true! I'm home from my vacation to Ocean City, Maryland! It was pretty fun! I finally got to go on the bungee ball! *squee* Unfortunately I did not get as much reading done as I would have liked so I'm going to be hunkering down with my boys Hemingway and Steinbeck. :| Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know I'm back. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of my trip up later!

Vacation Time!

Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be going on vacation from Monday through Thursday night. I'm going to try to do one or two of those scheduled posts but I'm not quite sure how to do them so we'll see how that goes. If I have won any of your contests I would really appreciate it if you would hold the prize for me but I would also understand if you picked another winner.

Hopefully I'll get a lot of reading done on the beach! I'm planning on bringing the copy of Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens and maybe another book but I also have to get through my summer reading. Normally I would just speed through it in a matter of days but having to stop and take note of things for my dialectic notebook is really killing me! I hope to get a good amount of that out of the way during the drive so I can enjoy reading on the beach!

Happy Reading and Enjoy the Rest of Your Summer!

Double Review: Beautiful Creatures + Beautiful Darkness

Title: Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1)

Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 563

Summary From Goodreads:

"Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has

ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything."

Title: Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles #2)

Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 512

Release Date: Oct. 12th 2010

Summary From Goodreads:

"Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems."

I decided after reading both of these books that it would be best to review them together because they're so similar (duh, they're a series lol) and because I had the same opinion of both books.

Both books were excellently written although I found them very hard to get into. I found myself struggling to make it through parts of both of the books, especially in the beginnings. But, once the action got going I couldn't put the books down! And, the endings were so great that it didn't even matter what I thought of the first half of the book I needed the next!

I know, I know, I know! A lot of people love this series and it has a remarkable following so you're all probably thinking "HOW COULD YOU SAY YOU STRUGGLED THROUGH ANY PART OF THESE AMAZING BOOKS?!" Really, I think it had to do with the characters. I wrote this paragraph once and deleted it because it came out too bashy and not constructive in any way, shape, or form (not to mention bashing this series should just be a federal crime, it really is excellent). I just wish that the characters were deeper. This is definitely a book that I'd like to see a switch in perspective. I'd even like to see into the bad guys heads so I could get more of a sense for how evil they are. I found myself not liking characters because I didn't feel a connection and understand their emotions enough thus, I wasn't able to get into the majority of the book that was all about the characters.

Toward the end of the books though. Just wow. I couldn't even put the books down once I hit this part. I love the action scenes and the good against evil struggle that takes place both physically and psychologically. The action is just amazing. Very descriptive and it's all very creative. Garcia and Stohl have some awesome imaginations. There's also always some kind of twist or something too in the books that makes it more than meets the eye. Such, with the songs, Lena's eyes, the visions, objects, animals and even the characters. Which is cool to see.

Overall, the books would just each get maybe a three at best with out the endings and I'd say that would be being generous, but the action and the cliffhangerish endings really made the books great so that definitely pushes them each up to a solid four. I would love to get a more indepth look at the characters because I feel, even Ethan who's perspective it's from, is just a bit too shallow.

Rating For Both Books: (Out of 5, Both Books Received the Same Rating of Four)

100+ Follower Giveaway Winner Revealed!

Ok, so before I tell you who won, I would just like to thank all of my followers new and old for, well, following me! :) I love you guys so much and if I had the financial means I would make it so you could all win! But, alas, I do not. :( So without further ado, let's get to the winner!

Remember, the winner will win a copy of The Iron Daughter, a Mockingjay bookmark, and their choice of 2 books out of the following: Glimmerglass by Jenna Black, Beastly by Alex Flinn, Thirsty by M.T. Anderson, and Blue Bloods: Keys to the Repository by Melissa de la Cruz. I picked the winner using Random.org and I came up with the numer 83.

The 83rd person on the spreadsheet was... *does corny drumroll*

KJOVUS

I will be contacting you via email once I have this posted Kjovus! You'll have 48 hours to respond or I'll select another winner. Thanks to all who entered! I really appreciate all of you following my blog!

Happy Reading!

LAST CHANCE!

Today is the last day to enter my 100+ follower giveaway! SO GET TO IT! Don't miss out! I'll be closing the contest at 11 pm EST. Thanks to all my followers for getting me so far! I love you all!

P.S. - Sorry about the lack of reviews I have read 2 books as you can see on the side bar and I'm almost done with The Summer I Turned Pretty but because of my trouble with sleeping and addiction to the Xena series I haven't gotten around to it. You all have every right to yell at me!

Happy Reading!

In My Mailbox(3) + Giveaway Update! + Adorable Pictures I Found On My Camera

So there's a lot going on because I haven't posted for the last two or three days and for that I apologize! I have an IMM for you guys and some AWESOME news about the 100+ Follower Giveaway AND some adorable pictures to make you all smile!

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi from over at The Story Siren! I know I'm a day late but I was too tired to make one Saturday because I went to a wedding and then I was too busy Sunday! But, because I love you guys so much I decided to make one a day late so forgive me for looking like shite because I had just woken up maybe an hour before!!!

*Note: I accidentally referred to Alex Flinn as a he! Really Alex Flinn is a woman!!! I would like to send an uber thank you to Kailia from Reading the Best of the Best (and her other blogs!) for making me aware of my mistake!

Books I Bought:

Sundays at Tiffany's - James Patterson

Sam's Letters to Jennifer - James Patterson

The Constant Princess - Phillipa Gregory

Wideacre - Phillipa Gregory

Other - Karen Kincy

A Kiss in Time - Alex Finn

Infinite Days - Rebecca Maizel

The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han

City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments #2) - Cassandra Clare

Books My Sister Bought But I'll Probably Read Before Her:

Blue Moon (The Immortals #2) - Alyson Noel

Graceling - Kristin Cashore

The Eternal Ones - Kirstin Miller

Books I Won:

Blue Bloods: Keys to the Repository - Melissa De La Cruz (I'M GIVING THIS AWAY!!!) From (Books With Bite)

Beautiful Darkness - Maragret Stohl & Kami Garcia (From ROOTS IN MYTH)

*GIVEAWAY NEWS*

Ok, so if you watched my IMM you may know that I'm adding in Blue Bloods: Keys to the Repository to the giveaway! So, that will be added to the list of books you can choose from! But, I also said that if we reached 115 followers I would add another prize! So now, you can choose not one but TWO books from the list! That means you'll be winning 3 books! :D Exciting right?! And, if we get 11 more followers by Wednesday to get us to 130 followers I'll add something else! :) Here's the link to the updated post! Remember if you already entered you don't need to again! You have until Wednesday to enter!!!

And now I'm going to leave you with some adorable pictures that I found on my camera of my dog when my sister and I put her in a sweatshirt!

Follow Friday and Blog Hop! (8)

It is once again that time of week! It's time to follow some blogs with Parajunkee's View and hop around with Crazy for Books! You can click the pictures if you want to join these awesome going ons! Now to the question of the week from Crazy for Books!

How many books do you have on your 'to be read shelf’?

Well, technically none because I don't have a to be read shelf. I have them in a drawer next to my bed because I ran out of room elsewhere! Right now I probably have 10-15 book tbr, 4 of which are school books so as soon as I finish Beautiful Darkness I'm moving on to them! Sorry guys but you're gonna be getting reviews of them too! :P Unfortunately I have to read both Hemingway and Steinbeck this year and I hate them both with a passion but I guess that's what I get for taking honors right? What about you guys? How many books do you have on your tbr shelves (or wherever else you may keep your tbr books!)? Anything you're particularly looking forward to or trying to put off?

Don't forget to sign up for the giveaway or get at me via Twitter, YouTube, or Formspring!